


Fairytales aren't real, Ruby

by Hauno



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Romance, mermaid, rubys a very imaginative child and dia has to deal with her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 15:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15222581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hauno/pseuds/Hauno
Summary: Dia's raising Ruby alone, and Ruby's imagination is crazy. At least that's what Dia thinks.





	Fairytales aren't real, Ruby

Dia was never one to believe in fairytales. They were only fake stories created for the purpose of lulling children to sleep when all else had failed -- which is the only reason she used them on her younger sister, Ruby.

 

After Dia started telling Ruby those stories, Ruby’s imagination went wild. One day Ruby would be claiming she slayed a dragon outside of their home and saved an imaginary princess, or that she found an actual pot of gold at the end of a rainbow -- which didn’t even make sense, and Ruby constantly talked about wanting to find a house made out of candy in the woods, which made Dia worry, as she wouldn’t want Ruby to become unhealthy.

 

But Ruby’s imagination continued to grow worse and she always seemed to be in fantasyland. Though other kids got along great with her because of it; like her friends Hanamaru and Yoshiko, and Dia was thankful that Ruby at least had friends.

 

When Dia really had nobody. Their parents had died at when Dia was around fifteen, leaving her to take care of a toddler Ruby by herself. 

 

Dia was glad her little sister wouldn’t turn out like her. Alone, cold and bitter, Dia thought that she would be like this forever.

 

In the living room, Dia mixed her matcha powder into the hot water of her cup, trancing out as the TV played an advertisement for Idol Group μ's hottest new music video: Oh! Love and Peace! It was an old song, but Dia did think that Hanayo deserved that center music video. 

 

The door practically slammed open and made the room vibrate slightly. “Big sis!” Ruby called, entirely covered in water. Dia snapped out of her dissociation and looked over at Ruby. 

 

“Oh, god,” Dia placed her hand on her forehead. “Ruby, what did you get into?!”

 

“I found a mermaid!” Ruby shouted, her voice full of excitement. She walked closer to Dia, her twintails dripping water onto the floor. 

 

“Ruby, you’re soaking wet! Mermaids aren’t real!” Dia pulled on her hair in slight frustration. Taking care of a child was hard sometimes.

 

“I saw one! I met one!” Ruby bounced around, getting water all over the place before realizing the angry look on her sisters face, which caused her to freeze in place. “I’m sorry…” Ruby looked down at the ground. 

 

Dia sighed and picked up a towel that just happened to be laying around, went over to Ruby and began to dry her off. “You need to take a bath.”

 

“She was really pretty, big sis… and she was lonely, too! She reminded me of you!”

 

Dia gazed down at Ruby, not saying a word. Was that really what reminded Ruby of her?

 

“I gave her my necklace!” Ruby smiled.

 

“Y- You gave a random woman your necklace?! The diamond one!? Ruby…” Dia sighed, again, knowing well that she wouldn’t let some woman get away with her sisters prized necklace. 

 

\--

 

Here Dia is, with her little sister Ruby, going into the woods near their house a little bit too late for Dia’s liking, despite it still being light out. 

 

“Over here! At this lake!” Ruby ran further over to the distant stream. 

 

Dia groaned. After her short-lived school idol days, she stopped taking care of herself and didn’t exercise as much. Her feet were hurting and her back was sore, all over a necklace.

 

As Dia walked closer to the stream, the gentle sound of a harp rang in her ears. Instantly, Dia was hypnotized by the music, following it instead of Ruby’s excited voice.

 

When Dia made her way up to the lake, she was stunned to see a woman sitting on one of the rocks in it. That woman may or may not have had a tail. She was stunning; with dark red hair and a pink fishtail, pearls and gold lining of all sorts gracing the rest of her outfit. 

 

Dia blinked twice. “Wait. Is- Is that a-”

 

“I told you they were real!”

 

The mermaid looked over at Dia, who was blushing furiously but also very, very confused.

 

“A...mermaid?” Dia finishes her statement. “I must be dreaming.”

 

On the mermaid’s neck, was indeed, Ruby’s diamond necklace. 

 

“Hello,” her eyes lock onto Dia’s. “You must be Dia. Ruby had been telling me all about you,” she smiles. “You can call me Riko.”

 

“Ri...ko.”

 

“Yes, that’s my name.”

 

“Riko-san.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You’re,” Dia chokes, “You’re a mermaid.”

 

Riko laughs at her. “That is correct.”

 

“How… how are you a mermaid.”

 

“We’re real.”

 

Dia shakes her head. “No, don’t mermaids live in the ocean?”

 

“Some of us prefer to live in lakes or other bodies of water. Have you never heard of swamp mermaids?”

 

“It must be a suit, or something…”

 

Riko grins a bit before throwing herself back into the water and swimming closer to Dia. “You can touch it, if you’d like.”

 

Dia gasps. “T- That seems indecent...”

 

“It’s just a tail.~”

 

With much hesitation, Dia reaches out and under the water to touch Riko’s tail. She rubs her fingers against the scales and near where it begins, trying to figure out if it’s fake or real. 

 

To Dia’s surprise, it’s definitely real. “You’re… wow, you’re, stunning.”

 

“That isn’t really what I expected you to say…”

 

Dia inhales. “I meant you’re real, to correct myself.”

 

“I’m sure that’s what you meant.”

 

“Can we bring her home, big sis?!” Ruby’s eyes beam with excitement. 

 

“We can’t bring a mermaid home, Ruby.”

 

“You could try,” Riko adds. “I don’t have anyone here but myself.”

 

“We have a small house.”

 

Riko frowns, fiddling with the pearls around her neck. “Well would you at least come back to visit me? You look lonely, too.”

 

“If I don’t magically wake up and this isn’t real, ...I wouldn’t mind coming back. Learning more about you. ...It’s getting late, though, and I want to get Ruby home before dark.”

 

The mermaid nods in agreement. “I wouldn’t want you two, especially you, little Ruby-chan, to get hurt.”

 

“Ruby’s strong…” 

 

Dia coughs. “Ruby, just yesterday you were crying because Hanamaru came over to give you some homemade cookies, and you were too shy to answer the door for your friend.”

 

Ruby sniffles. Dia pats her on the head.

 

“I’ll be back tomorrow at around noon,” Dia states.”

 

Riko flicks her tail in and out of the water. “I’ll see you then,” she winks before diving back into the water, swimming away.

 

\--

 

Throughout the next few weeks, Dia learns more about Riko. She learns that Riko’s been in this lake alone for her entire life, that it’s easy for mermaids to hide, and that they only come out when they’ve found someone worthy to them, and that Riko’s favorite food is hard boiled egg sandwiches. Dia wonders how she even found that out.

 

But Dia brings them to her now. 

 

Riko has found out so much about Dia, too, that she’s struggling while trying to raise Ruby alone despite being left a hefty amount of money; that Dia prefers to focus on the little things and making them into a bigger picture, that Dia still wants to sing, and that she still wants to be an idol, but she can’t. 

 

“...I’m nothing special,” Dia sighs. “Nothing has worked out for me since my parents had passed.”

 

Riko slides her hand onto Dia’s. “I think you’re something special.”

 

Dia laughs. “Yeah, right.”

 

“Why else would I show myself to you?”

 

“You showed yourself to Ruby first.”

 

“I knew she would be good luck.”

 

Dia snickers. “Well… she is my good luck charm.”

 

“You could be MY good luck charm,” Riko smiles before realizing what came out of her mouth. Her face scrunches up like she’s going to die. Yet, Dia only laughs again.

 

“I miss her. She’s been out with friends more. I think she may have forgotten that her big sister needs her, too…”

 

Riko’s tail flicks and splashes water around. “You can’t rely on a child for that, Dia-san.”

 

“I don’t have anyone else.”

 

Riko pulls herself up closer to Dia and presses her face onto her thigh. 

 

“You have me.”

 

\--

 

One night, Ruby’s sleeping over with Hanamaru and Yoshiko. Dia drinks, and drinks, and drinks, until she’s just a crying mess. She drags herself out of the house without even thinking, and starts to go through the woods, because she needs comfort, she needs someone, but she doesn’t need Ruby. She needs someone who can handle her problems, and she knows that Riko can.

 

When Dia gets to the lake, Riko comes to her immediately, and Dia practically falls into the water. Riko catches her and sits her down on the ledge instead. Riko can’t understand anything that Dia’s saying, but she knows that Dia’s heart must be heavy.

 

Riko summons her harp and plays a song and serenades Dia to sleep.

 

Dia sleeps well, like she hasn’t done in years, all of her worries floating away from her while listening to Riko’s song.

 

The next morning, Dia wakes up, her head not aching. She’s oddly comfortable.

 

“...Riko-san?”

 

Riko pops up right next to her. She looks tired.

 

“Good morning, Dia-san.” Riko yawns.

 

Dia turns to her. “For whatever happened last night, I am so, so sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. I took care of you, didn’t I?”

 

“Did you take care of yourself?”

 

“I just haven’t slept… and using magic takes a lot of energy out of me.”

 

“Again, I apologize.”

 

Riko shakes her head. “If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have,” she states bluntly. “I just want to sleep.”

 

“I’ll be back later after you’re rested.” Dia stands up. She hasn’t felt this great in a long time. Riko truly was some sort of magic.

 

Riko had already dozed off.

 

\--

 

Months go by. Dia hasn’t felt this happy in years. Riko had convinced her to seek help, and to not be afraid to let Ruby live on her own a little, and overall Riko just made Dia’s life so… much better.

 

Dia had wondered if she did the same for Riko.

 

“Riko-san?” Dia peered around the lake. “Are you awake yet?”

 

Riko popped up from the corner. “Dia-san.”

 

“Good morning,” Dia smiled, taking a seat on the ground near the ledge.

 

However, Riko hid her face in the water to where only her eyes were visible. She swam over the ledge.

 

“Is something the matter?” Dia asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

 

Riko pulls herself up, taking a large breath. “You see, I- well, I just kind of want to give you this item. It’s very important, and it- It, well, it…”

 

Dia pats Riko on the head reassuringly. 

 

“Us mermaids give something special to our lovers. Something that we deem worthy of them having. And I know that we aren’t lovers, but I…”

 

“We could be,”  Dia interrupts. 

 

Riko has seemingly avoided her message, continuing to speak. “I want you to have it.” She pulls out a very pink pearl necklace. Wasn’t it hers?

 

“It’s very special to me.” Riko adjusts herself and puts it around Dia’s neck before she can even get a word out.

 

“Riko-san… you didn’t have to. It’s beautiful, but it’s yours.” Dia cups Riko’s cheek in her hand. “And if you did not hear what I said, we can be lovers.”

 

Riko chokes on air. “Wh- Wha- Okay. Okay. I didn’t expect this to actually happen.”

 

“You never expect anything good to happen to you.”

 

“That’s very true.”

 

“I like spending time with you, anyways, Riko-san,” Dia smiles. “We have spent an awfully long time together, don’t you think?”

 

“Maybe. You don’t mind having to come here every day to visit me…?”

 

“You sing for me. For free. I would never mind the fact that I have to walk, in fact, it’s gotten me in better health. I can walk a few miles.”

 

“...I love you so much, Dia-san.” Riko holds Dia’s hands tightly. “I’m glad I chose you.”

 

“I love you as well. Now, that being said, if you’d like, you COULD always come live in my bathtub.”

 

“I would never!” Riko gasps. “My tail needs space to move around, you know…” she pouts.

 

Dia chuckles and smiles at Riko, staring her in the eyes before giving her a quick surprise kiss. After all, Dia didn’t really know how long kisses were supposed to last, so she just made it as fast as possible to avoid the awkwardness.

 

“That’s all?” Riko frowns, trying to hide her blush.

 

“I’m not a charity for kisses. And we’re in public, someone might see us.”

 

“We’re in the middle of a forest, Dia-san…” 

 

Dia shrugged.

 

“You’re not getting anything else out of me in the middle of broad daylight.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i might be dying but diariko is my city now


End file.
